


A fraction's left up to dispute

by risinggreatness



Series: Circle 'round the sun [89]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 06:52:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3371924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/risinggreatness/pseuds/risinggreatness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mara is terrified of how alike she and her mother are (not EU compliant)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A fraction's left up to dispute

“Would you come with us, General?”

Groaning, “Now?”

“We’re not sure what else to do.”

Saw looks up from the work that’s been piling up. He crooks his eyebrow as if to say ‘you’ve got to be kidding me,’ but the officer looks so clueless Saw takes pity on him.

The Kira Detention Center lies on the outskirts of the city, obstructed from view by the low lying mountains; the cliff face is a solid, unscalable fence. Inside, Saw understands how demoralizing the mountain can be for the inmates.

The guards allow Saw entry then lead him to an interrogation room; the prisoner already sits at the table, head bowed and grey hair blocking her eyes. Saw watches closely from the opposite side of the glass.

“Says she wants to speak directly to General Skywalker,” the warden tells him. “She’s claiming the protection of the Jedi Order and refuses to speak to anyone else. I’ve told her we cannot guarantee the general will be able to speak with her, yet she insists it must be him.

“It is imprudent of me, but you know the general, I was hoping –”

Saw raises a hand.

Someone putting up this much of a fuss could cause trouble, especially for interplanetary relations. It would reflect poorly on Onderon if they denied a Republic citizen their request.

What the hell has Skywalker gotten himself into this time?

“I’ll take care of it.” Saw glances back through the glass, “What did you say her name was?”

“Syrule Jade.”

His eyes narrow; though the prisoner’s hair hangs in her face, the resemblance to Mara Jade is unmistakable.

\----------

“It’s probably better if they hear it from you.”

Ahsoka nods.

When she last encountered her parents, Mara spent hours in mediation trying to shake them from her bones ( _if only she could_ ).

Ahsoka feels an intense desire not to say anything to Mara at all ( _a foolish notion she needs to be protected_ ) or to let Luke break it to her after he’s found out what the woman wants from him, but that would be a breach of trust.

Better she find out now rather than later.

Resolved to tell them together, Ahsoka still hesitates before knocking.

The apartment is in a state of disarray, which is not unusual given their frequent comings and goings, but when they are preparing to leave, it makes it difficult to get both of them to sit down at once. Together Luke and Mara are a whirlwind of activity. Thank the gods or Force or whatever Shmi is on a mission.

She blurts it out in frustration, “Your mother’s been imprisoned on Onderon!”

Mara’s face falls and freezes.

“She’s demanding to see Luke,” Ahsoka finishes weakly.

“Why me?” He doesn’t want any more to do with the woman than Mara.

“Saw didn’t say. But she’s threatened to raise hell on Onderon if you don’t comply.”

It is hard to tell whether several strained minutes actually tick by or are only in Ahsoka’s head.

“You’re not going.”

“Mara…”

“No. It’s an empty threat. She’s made a request and you can refuse to answer. That’s the way it works. I don’t know why Syrule’s in prison and I don’t care; she’s probably broken a dozen of the system’s laws. She can stay there and rot.”

That would be the end of it, but Ahsoka has not finished delivering Saw’s message, “She’s claiming the Order broke their deal with her as well.”

Mara’s tone is almost too even, “I’m going to kill her.”

Barely visible, Luke shakes. Fiercely, “Don’t even think that.”

With a few carefully selected words, Syrule Jade managed to position herself between the Order and the rest of the galaxy. The Order they’ve built up cannot be torn down by her accusations, but she can damage it – hurt Mara.

“Why not?”

“You know damn well why not.”

Luke and Mara’s arguments have always tended toward the quiet and private, but now their teeth are gritted together, ready – expecting the shouting match about to begin.

“I’m going to meet with her.” It is the decisive tone Luke uses which sets it off.

“Don’t you dare!”

They take no notice as Ahsoka slips out, their voices still clearly audible from the hall.

\----------

Some of the heat from their fight lingers and turns to steam as they travel to Onderon. Mara couldn’t convince Luke not to go, and now they are both going to confront Syrule Jade.

Mara folds her arms tighter across her chest, “She’s just going to twist your words around.”

Luke doesn’t respond; they will snipe at each other again and they have to be a united front. Anything less while Syrule is around and she will gain the upper hand.

Shmi was no more thrilled with their change of plans. “You better both come back,” she tells them.

They plan to, but they have to get there first.

Landing at the detention center feels too much like flying into Bespin. It is too easy; the docking bay officer is too obliging. They are more than likely walking into a well-laid mind game and there is definitely going to be an unpleasant family reunion.

Luke grabs Mara’s arm as she stands to leave.

“I love you.”

For a brief moment the tension dissipates and she mumbles back, “I’m not going to give Han or Leia’s response.”

He half-laughs an “I know” then completely serious again, “If your mother’s as bad as you say she is, I just want you to remember that.”

“I love you too,” she says.

They are led to the interrogation room; Saw waits for them.

“Probably better just to send you in one at a time, Skywalker.”

Luke squeezes Mara’s hand reassuringly and follows Saw to the door separating them from the prisoner, but steps through alone.

The eyes of the prisoner and the eyes of those on the other side of the glass follow Luke as he takes the seat across the table. Her glare is off-putting, like that of a bitter smuggling lieutenant.

He waits for her to play the first card.

“I can see she has no problem faking it with you,” though this kind of talk was not unexpected, Luke reels from the remark. Syrule nods her head toward the glass, “She’s on the other side of that wall, isn’t she?”

Luke frowns, “So what if she is? I’m the one you wanted to see. What is it that you want?”

“Is it too much for a mother to want to know her daughter’s husband?”

“We’ve already made it clear we want nothing to do with you or your husband. What do you really want?”

“You are unflappable, General Skywalker. I’ll give you that. Mara made a deal with me: you got your brat back, now get me out of here and call off the hunt.”

“We’ve upheld our end of the deal; your incarceration has nothing to do with the Jedi Order.”

Syrule leers. “The two of you must not care very much for the safety of my granddaughter, if you’re refusing to –”

There is a thud on the other side of the glass and the door bursts open; Mara flies through, hand hovering over the hilt of her lightsaber.

“Don’t you dare start making threats!”

Everything about her demeanor and presence indicates to Luke Mara’s been on edge since he entered the integration room. He wonders who she threw against the window, who tried to prevent her from barging in.

Syrule acts disinterested, “So you are here, Mara. It’s about time you showed your face. Now, if you’ll have me released, Antar and I will disappear and you’ll never see us again.”

“You’ve done nothing but lie and cheat your whole life, why should we believe you?”

There is a moment’s pause as Syrule considers. “Do you love him?”

In unison, Luke and Mara ask, “What?”

The question is repeated, “Do you love him?”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant.”  
“Answer the question, Mara,” for the first time, Luke hears a maternal tone in the woman’s voice.

Scolded, Mara stares down her mother with sharp, green eyes; evidently her father’s eyes, same as her hair. “I married him, didn’t I?”

“Like I married Antar. It doesn’t mean anything.”

They are stunned silent.

Syrule savors her brief victory, “There’s the difference. I may be a cheat, but I’m not a liar. Not the way you are. You, Mara, have been playing the role of devoted wife, mother, and Jedi. But that’s where we’re the same: you and I are incapable of love.”

With every word, Mara shrinks. As if every fear and doubt she’s had about herself had just been confirmed.

Luke doesn’t feel his blood boiling until it is too late, “Shut up! I’ve heard enough!”

His own blood. It pulses in his ears, reminding him who else’s blood it is, what that man could do: dangling feet, a snapped neck, and a limp frame draped over the table. It is not something he needs assurance of anymore, but he is not is father and he never will be.

Still, he feels the urge to fight her.

“You’ve been out of Mara’s life longer than you were ever in it,” he growls. “How can you possibly claim to know her? You don’t know who she is or what she’s been through.”

( _Luke doesn’t know it, but his words are an echo in Syrule’s head. Something Shmi said to her._ )

“It doesn’t matter, you can’t change who you are.” ( _The unspoken: what’s in your blood._ ) “Are you really so stupid? She can’t even deny it.”

His retort is cut off.

“You’re right. He is a stupid. He’s a stupid farmboy, but he’s my stupid farmboy and I love him.”

Mara’s full height is restored. Her head held higher than before, all doubts dispersed. Proved wrong, Syrule looks diminutive.

“People do change. You’re just not one of them.” She turns on her heel; Luke follows, his head clearing of anger. Before the door shuts behind them, Mara calls back, “If I ever run into Antar, I’ll tell him there’s a cellmate waiting for him here.”

\----------

The flight home is too long to spend its entirety in the cockpit. Her empty bunk offers Mara the sanctuary she needs.

Curling up in the cramped bed, Mara shuts her eyes, but doesn’t sleep.

Sometime later ( _it feels like days, but is maybe only hours_ ), the door opens and Luke lies next to her. His body wraps around her, shielding her back and blocking out the chilled air. He buries his face into the mess of red hair.

Slightly muffled, “Talk to me.”

Mara pauses; she is not sure what she is thinking or feeling yet.

“I want to.”

It is enough for Luke to understand.

He doesn’t push, but he stays. It is enough for Mara.

\----------

It is warm for the first time during Naboo’s revolution around its sun. Leia raises her face to the sky; a breeze floats by carrying the winter away with it.

Morning light refracts like silver on the lake, drawing her eye to a lone figure on the dock. Mara rests her head on one leg and dips her toes into the freshly thawed water with the other.

Leia blinks. She must be dreaming if Mara is up before noon, but when she opens her eyes Mara has not moved.

“You’re up early,” Leia notes.

The other woman looks around, dazed.

“Or were up late,” Leia amends.

“The latter,” Mara confirms.

They hold their ground a moment: Leia standing, Mara dangling her foot over the edge. Leia feels compelled to speak; she tries to think of something comforting.

“Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I hadn’t run away. I hated Antar more when I was growing up, but Syrule… she would get under my skin – make me despise everything, mostly myself. I probably would have turned into a more hateful version of her.”

Comforting words are the last thing Mara needs.

“Ironic how you’re the one who never wants to see their parents again, but they’re the only ones alive,” Leia says it more bitterly than she intends.

“Yeah, the Force is a bitch.”

Leia silently agrees.

For all the wonderful things it has given her, it has taken just as many away, presented her with obstacles she never thought she would overcome.

“Then again – look who I’m talking to,” Mara shakes her head disbelievingly. “Look who I’m _married_ to.”

Yes, Vader still lurks in the back of her mind. As far as parents go, it is hard to imagine anyone worse. It is not an easy thing to shrug off as Leia so desperately wishes she could.

“Sometimes I imagine what our lives would have been like if Anakin Skywalker didn’t fall to the Dark Side,” she admits.

“Does it help with the reality that he did?”

“Not really.”

“Imagining I didn’t run away doesn’t help my reality either.”

Neither of their realities are really better than the other in Leia’s mind.

Leia considers Mara’s frame of mind. She’s more relaxed than when she and Luke returned from Onderon, the lake has that effect, but staying up all night suggests Mara is far from okay.

Maybe they all are.

“So we play the hand we’re dealt and bluff the rest.”

It’s what they’ve been doing all along: picking and choosing the parts of their parents they want to keep, but holding onto the rest because they can’t get rid of it.

Because folding isn’t an option.

“I thought Han had you banned from the card table,” her sister-in-law laughs.

Leia scoffs and finally takes a seat beside Mara; she dangles her legs over the edge too, not long enough to reach the still-frigid water.

Face clouding over again, “I don’t want Shmi to take away any of the bad cards in my hand.”

“She hasn’t.” Leia’s as proud of niece as she is of her own children.

They’ll all be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> See author bio for discussion on this 'verse.


End file.
